The present invention relates to an overhead loading device for a cargo vehicle, such as an emergency vehicle for loading and unloading a patient support, and a method of loading and unloading a patient support into and out of a cargo vehicle.
For example, when loading an ambulance cot into an ambulance, an emergency medical service (EMS) attendant typically aligns the cot with the open rear doors of the ambulance and then pushes the cot toward the ambulance so that the head end of the cot is supported at the opening of the ambulance. Once supported at the head end of the cot, the EMS attendant, while supporting the foot end of the cot, raises the legs of the cot so that the cot can then be pushed into the ambulance. However, as noted, this typically requires the EMS personnel to support the foot end of the cot until most of the cot is loaded into the ambulance. In some cases, the head end of the cot may need to be lifted before insertion. With this scenario, the assistance of a second attendant is required. The removal process is much the same, except in reverse-namely, the cot is pulled from the opened rear doors of the ambulance, which requires the attendant to support the foot end of the cot while the cot is pulled out of the ambulance. As soon as the folded legs clear the back of the ambulance, the legs can then be lowered. Again, this requires the attendant to support the foot end of the cot while the cot is being pulled from the ambulance and until the legs can be lowered. This process is strenuous and could expose the EMS personnel to injury especially when dealing with heavy patients.
More recently, automated loading and unloading systems have been developed that support the cot while it is being loaded. These systems, however, occupy a sizeable portion of the floor space of the patient compartment.